Walmart Restructures U.S. Merchandising

BENTONVILLE, Ark.-Walmart has reconfigured its U.S. merchandising into four core areas, and has named executives to lead the areas.

John Fleming, who had been Walmart's chief merchandising officer, left the retailer in August. His position has not been filled.

According to a memo from Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart U.S., John Westling, executive vice president, will head the retailer's General Merchandise and Replenishment teams. Andy Barron, senior vice president of store merchandise execution, has been promoted to executive vice president of merchandising for softlines. Duncan McNaughton, chief merchandising officer of Walmart Canada, has become executive vice president of merchandising for consumables, health and wellness, and Walmart.com. Jack Sinclair will continue in his role as executive vice president of merchandising for food.

In the memo, Simon said, "This structure aligns similar categories and allows us to be even more competitive in each customer channel, improving how we target and localize merchandise."